...Ethical Perspectives: Friedman vs. Drucker, Murphy In this paper we will be comparing and contrasting ethical perspectives on business ethics of Milton Friedman, Patrick Murphy, and Peter Drucker. Their methods are drastically different, but the goal is to explain and better understand “business ethics” in today’s world. Milton Friedman “A corporation is an artificial person and in this sense may have artificial responsibilities, but ‘business’ as a whole cannot be said to have responsibilities, even in this vague sense.” (Friedman, 1970). M. Friedman believes that only the individual has social responsibilities. Business as an artificial entity cannot have “social conscience” and think of ethics before its interests or profits. According to Friedman, the primary responsibility of a businessman is to make happy the business owner with profits, and the primary task for the business owner is to make sure there are enough profits to: a. Sustain the business b. Have a stable growth c. Have the ability and means to compete on the market d. Keep happy the parties involved: customers, stockholders and investors. (Friedman, 1970). Furthermore, Friedman discusses the relationship between “social responsibilities of a business” and “socialism” and stresses the idea that if a business or a large corporation is forced to perform its “social responsibility”, example donate a large amount of money to social programs or local schools, business acts irresponsibly towards...
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...NORTHCENTRAL UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET Learner: | | MGT7019 | Stephanie Lyncheski | | | Ethics in Business | Assignment 1 Paper- Ethical perspectives: Friedman vs. Drucker, Murphy | | | ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Faculty Use Only ------------------------------------------------- <Faculty comments here> ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- <Faculty Name> <Grade Earned> <Writing Score> <Date Graded> Running head: ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES Assignment 1 - Ethical Perspectives Friedman vs. Drucker, Murphy Northcentral university MGT7019-8 Ethics in Business 05/20/2012 With no clear definition of what business ethics are, it becomes the responsibility of the beholder to discern or reach a plausible conclusion of what constitutes ethical behavior. When looking at business ethics from a global perspective the water only gets muddier. Studies and perspectives on the subject provide no clear definition and when western and eastern social values are added in the mix, the gap between doing what is ethical and doing what is right stretches the abyss even further. Doing what...
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...Ethical perspectives: Friedman vs. Drucker, Murphy North Central University Summary of Perspectives Peter F. Drucker In Drucker (1981), he takes us through a journey of evolution of Business Ethics and represents several controversial positions. While explaining the ethics in Western Culture he states that there was agreement on the following statement: “There are only one ethics, one set of rules of morality, one code, that of individual behavior in which the same rules apply to everyone alike” (Drucker, 1981, Page 19). He discusses the examples of "a poor mother", "nepotism in China" and "paid extortion" to articulated the impact of social, economical and cultural norms on implementing this on everyone. He considers practices of questionable morality under different circumstances as ethical. Casuistry (Drucker, 1981, Page 22) was the first attempt to think about social responsibility and embed it in a set of distinctive ethics for people in power. According to Drucker, ethics for people in social responsibility is a cross-benefit calculation involving demand of individual conscience and position. For then, demand of ethics can be excepted if actions result in benefit for other people. Drucker then moves on to introduce The Ethics of Prudence (Drucker, 1981, Page 27) as other major tradition in the West. He proposes that Ethics of Prudence appropriate to a society of organizations. Prudence, the consciousness not to do the wrong thing will enable the leader to exhibit...
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...Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Apparently, the concept of social responsibility refers to the means of achieving full sustainability through the adoption of the Triple-Bottom-Line (TBL) concept. Any viable organisation will enhance and facilitate long-term viability and success through the critical adoption of fundamental social responsibility principles such as transparency and accountability (Benn & Bolton, 2011). For instance, in the year 2010, the international organisation for standardisation gave out an international standard, which could help other organisations in addressing and accessing their social responsibility. Further, it is through critical and careful attention to impacts on the environment and the entire society that various organisations are able to achieve their sustainability. Through such scenario frequencies, any organisation can spur growth and development within the shortest time possible. Embracing the culture of transparency and positive ethics enhances and facilitates an approach that helps in the protection of the long-term success of both the environment and organisational success (Benn & Bolton, 2011). Social responsibility Social responsibility on a personal or corporate level means having a passionate commitment to act in an ethical and sensitive manner to alleviate poverty from society without destroying the cultural values and environmental settings of the community, and ensuring economic benefits to the organisation that...
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...Professional Responsibility Mulligan versus Friedman perspectives on moral business decisions * Mulligan: Execs have most knowledge and will be better at at analyzing problems and implementing solutions * Friedman: Execs are not competent to solve moral problems – should be left to governemtn Director/Officer “Duty of Due Care Standard” in the Business Judgment Rule Statutory duty to act: 1. “In Good Faith” – NO SELF INTEREST 2. “With Care of an ordinarly prudent person” BE INFORMED 3. “In manner reasonably believed to be in best interest of corporation” Comparison to a Professional’s “Duty of Due Care”: 1. Duty of Care 2. Breach of duty of care by a reasonably prudent professional 3. breach causes damages that were foreseeable. 4. Negligence Theory: , Can negligence be criminal—US v Parks case Yes! If informed of an issue, should follow through and ensure action was taken (supermarket example) States’ Differing Public Policy on role of stakeholders in making a decision that is in the best interests of the company * Half of the states say the officers and directors can take into account stockholders and other stakeholders (employees, customers, supplies, communities). * Pennsylvania and Indiana allow officers to place the interests of stakeholders above stockholders Why most companies choose Delaware to incorporate Management friendly. Example: business judgement rule Drucker’s Aristotelian...
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...FOUNDATIONS OF BUSINESS THOUGHT Business 1050 – 005 #5947 Fall 2015 Monday Professor: W. Tim Miller Email: wtmiller@echelon-inc.com Text: Foundations of Business Thought, 1st edition, Boardman, Sandomir and Sondak (Gray cover) Outlines, notes, syllabus, handouts, etc., all be handled through Canvas. Bus1050, section 005, will meet Mondays a full 3 hours from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM in SFEBB 160. We will use Canvas exclusively in this class for syllabus, handouts, notes, etc. Be familiar with Canvas. Foundations of Business Thought will introduce the student to the cultural, historical and philosophical thought surrounding the issues of business and commerce throughout the ages. By examining the words of great authors, we will get a sense of the timeless nature of business and make the observation that the issues currently facing individuals and business have their origins in writings centuries old and from a wide array of cultural and geographic underpinnings. A brief historical trace will be made to connect us to those businessmen and women who pursued many of the same goals we do today. The course will be divided into three semester sections with six functional areas, each followed by an Exam. A lecture outline is posted to Canvas in the week that section is started. Section 1: A. The Fundamentals of Business - We will read many of the classics of literature and philosophy to discern the authors' beliefs about business fundamentals and, in the...
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...International Journal of Management Reviews (2007) doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2007.00215.x XXXX utilitarian, ORIGINAL XXX International Publishing Management theories IJMR 2007managerial and relational Reviews of corporate social responsibility © Blackwell Journal of Ltd 2007 1460-8545 Oxford, UK ARTICLES Blackwell Publishing Ltd Utilitarian, managerial and relational theories of corporate social responsibility Davide Secchi Concepts and theories of corporate social responsibility (CSR) have been examined and classified by scholars since the mid-1970s. However, owing to the evolving meaning of CSR and the huge number of scholars who have begun to analyze the issue in recent years fresh efforts are needed to understand new developments. Since there is a great heterogeneity of theories and approaches, the task remains a very hard one, mainly because heterogeneity derives from multi-disciplinary diversity. The criterion for selection is to consider the role that theorists confer to the firm. Following this idea, three groups of theories have been discerned: (1) the utilitarian group, in which the corporation is intended as a maximizing ‘black box’ where problems of externalities and social costs emerge; (2) the managerial category, where problems of responsibility are approached from inside the firm (internal perspective); (3) relational theories, or those in which the type of relations between the firm and the environment are at the center of the analysis. The three perspectives...
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...FORUM: QUALITATIVE SOCIAL RESEARCH SOZIALFORSCHUNG Volume 11, No. 3, Art. 17 September 2010 The Case of Value Based Communication—Epistemological and Methodological Reflections from a System Theoretical Perspective Victoria von Groddeck Key words: Abstract: The aim of this paper is to reflect the epistemological and methodological aspects of an communication empirical research study which analyzes the phenomenon of increased value communication within theory; form business organizations from a system theoretical perspective in the tradition of Niklas LUHMANN. analysis; Drawing on the theoretical term of observation it shows how a research perspective can be functional developed which opens up the scope for an empirical analysis of communication practices. This analysis; Niklas analysis focuses on the reconstruction of these practices by first understanding how these practices Luhmann; stabilize themselves and second by contrasting different practices to educe an understanding of organization different forms of observation of the relevant phenomenon and of the functions of these forms. studies; George Thus, this approach combines system theoretical epistemology, analytical research strategies, such Spencer-Brown; as form and functional analysis, and qualitative research methods, such as narrative interviews, system theory; participant observation and document analysis. value communication Table of...
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...C O N C E P T U A L I Z AT I O N AND LEARNINGS Entrepreneurship and Innovation: How Leadership Style Makes the Difference ? Satyabir Bhattacharyya A n entrepreneur is often defined as one who starts his own, new, and small business. But, not every new small business is entrepreneurial or represents entrepreneurship. For instance, the husband-and-wife team which opens another Mexican restaurant in the American suburb surely takes a risk. But, are they entrepreneurs? What they do has been done many times before. They gamble on the increasing popularity of eating out in their area but create neither a new concept of customer satisfaction nor a new consumer demand. Seen under this perspective, they are surely not entrepreneurs even though theirs is a new venture. WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP? The setting up of McDonald’s, however, was entrepreneurship. McDonald’s did not invent anything new; its final product was what any decent American restaurant had produced years ago. But, by applying management concepts and techniques (for instance, by asking what is ‘value’ to the customer), standardizing the ‘product’ across all locations and countries, designing processes and tools, and streamlining training on the analysis of the work to be done and then setting the standards it required, McDonald’s both drastically upgraded the yield from resources and created a new market and a new customer base. This is entrepreneurship. Equally entrepreneurial was the growing foundry started...
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...Cost Leadership? 10 Porter Identifies High Market Share with Cost Leadership Strategy 10 Differentiation--Not Cost Leadership Alone--Behind GM’s and Whirlpool’s Success 11 “Low-Cost” or “Low-Price” Strategy? 12 Thompson and Strickland’s Low-cost Provider Strategy 14 Internal Orientation of Cost Leadership Strategy 14 DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY 15 Superiority of Differentiation over Cost Leadership Strategy 16 Porter: Differentiation and High Market Share Incompatible 17 Differentiation Compatible with High Market Share--and Low Cost 18 Even higher quality may lead to lower cost 18 High Market Share Contributes to Long-term Competitive Advantage 20 Market Share Leadership Enhances Differentiation 20 “PURE” COST LEADERSHIP STRATEGY VS. COST LEADERSHIP AS A RESULT OF DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY 20 Porter: “Pure” Cost Leadership Strategy Incompatible with Differentiation Strategy 21 The Importance of Organizational...
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...Cost Leadership? 10 Porter Identifies High Market Share with Cost Leadership Strategy 10 Differentiation--Not Cost Leadership Alone--Behind GM’s and Whirlpool’s Success 11 “Low-Cost” or “Low-Price” Strategy? 12 Thompson and Strickland’s Low-cost Provider Strategy 14 Internal Orientation of Cost Leadership Strategy 14 DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY 15 Superiority of Differentiation over Cost Leadership Strategy 16 Porter: Differentiation and High Market Share Incompatible 17 Differentiation Compatible with High Market Share--and Low Cost 18 Even higher quality may lead to lower cost 18 High Market Share Contributes to Long-term Competitive Advantage 20 Market Share Leadership Enhances Differentiation 20 “PURE” COST LEADERSHIP STRATEGY VS. COST LEADERSHIP AS A RESULT OF DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY 20 Porter: “Pure” Cost Leadership Strategy Incompatible with Differentiation Strategy 21 The Importance of Organizational Culture...
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...| Sustainability management | | | | | * Executive Summary Sustainability is a key concern for the business now-a-days. Firms are now triggering resources and practices towards the sustainable growth of the business. Shell Group, a leading firm in energy industry, is trying to turn their resources for being sustainable in their business practices. For being so, they can follow two approaches such as Carroll’s four part model of CSR and stakeholder analysis. It has become a vital concern for the firms like shell to conduct CSR activities as they have to operate in an environment where they have to be economically viable as well as conforming to the legal laws, rights and obligations of the society. Not only the corporate social responsibility but also the stakeholder’s satisfaction can influence a great deal in the firm’s success. So, the stakeholder’s theory means a lot to the firms. Stakeholders can be internal as well as external. For applying those approaches, shell has to consider several analysis like cost benefit, life cycle analysis, environmental impact analysis, stakeholder matrix , segmentation analysis and so on. Finally, the company will get findings of taking one approaches as per the analysis to implement for being sustainable. * Contents Executive Summary 1 1 Introduction 3 2 For effective management of sustainability, these two approaches can be considered by the Shell Group as prescribed. The approaches are 4 2.1 Carroll’s...
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...Chapter 1 Introduction OBJECTIVES Introduction to the goal of financial management. Competitors to the rule of wealth maximization and their limitations. Factors affecting value creation. Corporate governance around the world. Corporate Financial Management deals with the decisions of a firm related to investment, financing and dividend. To carry on business, a firm invests in tangible assets like plant and machinery, buildings, and intangible assets like goodwill and patents. This comprises the investment decision. These assets don’t come free; one has to pay for them, so a company needs to tap various sources of funds including promoter’s contribution. This forms the financing decision. The investment in assets generates revenues and cash flows for a specific period of time. The managers of the company can either retain cash with the company for further investment or distribute to the owners of the company—the shareholders. This constitutes the dividend decision. In short, a finance manager will be concerned with such financial decisions as: • Which investment/s should the company accept and what are the financial implications of undertaking the same? • How should the company finance those investments? What should be the mix of owners’ contribution— equity and borrowed funds, i.e., debt at any given point in time? • How much of the income generated from operations should be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and how much is to be retained...
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...J Bus Ethics (2011) 104:77–91 DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-0890-1 Between Profit-Seeking and Prosociality: Corporate Social Responsibility as Derridean Supplement Cameron Sabadoz Received: 3 December 2010 / Accepted: 5 May 2011 / Published online: 24 May 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract This article revolves around the debate surrounding the lack of a coherent definition for corporate social responsibility (CSR). I make use of Jacques Derrida’s theorizing on contested meaning to argue that CSR’s ambiguity is actually necessary in light of its functional role as a ‘‘supplement’’ to corporate profit-seeking. As a discourse that refuses to conclusively resolve the tension between profit-seeking and prosociality, CSR expresses an important critical perspective which demands that firms act responsibly, while retaining the overall corporate frame of shareholder supremacy. CSR does this by ambivalently affirming both profit-seeking and prosociality, a necessary contradiction. Attempts to reduce CSR’s ambiguity can thus only succeed by undermining its viability as a normative discourse that captures how certain elements of society understand how firms should act. The analysis suggests that greater scholarly attention is needed with regard to the material discursive environments within which discourses such as CSR are deployed. A discursive approach to research could thus benefit future practitioners, who have to act according to fluid standards of...
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...Management Revised Edition Peter F. Drucker with Joseph A. Maciariello Contents Introduction to the Revised Edition of Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices Preface 1 2 3 Part I 4 5 6 7 Part II 8 9 10 11 Part III 12 Introduction: Management and Managers Defined Management as a Social Function and Liberal Art The Dimensions of Management Management’s New Realities Knowledge Is All New Demographics The Future of the Corporation and the Way Ahead Management’s New Paradigm Business Performance The Theory of the Business The Purpose and Objectives of a Business Making the Future Today Strategic Planning: The Entrepreneurial Skill Performance in Service Institutions Managing Service Institutions in the Society of Organizations vii xxiii 1 18 26 35 37 45 51 65 83 85 97 113 122 129 131 iv Contents 13 14 15 16 Part IV 17 18 19 Part V 20 21 What Successful and Performing Nonprofits Are Teaching Business The Accountable School Rethinking “Reinventing Government” Entrepreneurship in the Public-Service Institution Productive Work and Achieving Worker Making Work Productive and the Worker Achieving Managing the Work and Worker in Manual Work Managing the Work and Worker in Knowledge Work Social Impacts and Social Responsibilities Social Impacts and Social Responsibilities The New Pluralism: How to Balance the Special Purpose of the Institution with the Common Good The Manager’s Work and Jobs Why Managers? Design and Content of Managerial Jobs Developing...
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